By David Nelson, CFA 38,000 – That’s all we got in the way of jobs in May leaving bulls scratching their head and bears looking for the next shoe to drop. In addition to creating a roller coaster day for traders, Friday’s weak employment report set off the usual round of conflicting statements from Fed […]

By David Nelson, CFA The Pain Trade – Definition by Investopedia The tendency of markets to deliver the maximum amount of punishment to the most investors from time to time. A pain trade occurs when a popular asset class or widely followed investing strategy takes an unexpected turn that catches most investors flat-footed. Background It’s […]

By David Nelson, CFA Investors are lining up on either side of the DMZ choosing sides in the FOMC language debate. The Fed has been giving us signals for months that a change is coming. Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher set the ball in motion in July with his Op-Ed “The Danger of Too Loose […]

By David Nelson, CFA The debate surrounding an inevitable Fed hike has preoccupied investors and those sitting behind the hollowed walls of the Federal Reserve for the last half decade. The pros and cons of Fed policy have been well vetted. The conversation today seems to have finally shifted from “should” they remove accommodation to […]

By David Nelson, CFA Evidence continues to mount supporting my view the Fed is moving to an eventual exit quicker than the street believes. Yesterday’s release of July’s FOMC minutes has to be viewed as hawkish. The only debate is to what degree. I stand by my call that the first hikes will come during […]